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KH13 description of Kingdom Hearts III at E3 2015

With KH13 (the Kingdom Hearts fan-site which I do voluntary work with) we were keeping tabs on the 2015 E3 conferences (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and Square Enix) for any news about Kingdom Hearts; a trailer appeared for the third console instalment of Kingdom Hearts and I wrote the full description of the trailer for the site which can be seen below or on KH13.com.

Square Enix had their conference at E3 yesturday (June 16, 2015 6pm BST) and after showing the trailer for the Final Fantasy VII Remake and Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, Shinji Hasimoto (executive producer of Kingdom Hearts series) says [according to translator] “Ok moving along; I’d like to discuss the title I think we’ve all been waiting for! Kingdom Hearts III!” The KHIII logo, Donald, Goofy and Sora in his new black and red outfit appear on the screen behind him. “But rather than having me talk about it, I thought it’d be much better if we watched actual footage of the game!”

The trailer fades from black to show a large window at the centre which has curtains flowing from the breeze and soft lighting which is realistic as it glows into the room from outside (the same room that featured in the teaser at the HD 2.5 ReMIX launch events in North America and Europe). It pans down to show Young Xehanort and young Eraqus playing chess while having a conversation; the same conversation which was revealed in the teaser message at last year’s E3 but this time with the English voice actors!

Below is what they said:

Young Xehanort: Have you heard of the ancient Keyblade War?

Young Eraqus: Yeah; the master’s favourite story!

Young Xehanort: So…you know the lost masters? They’re the ones who started the Keyblade War

Young Eraqus: Never heard of them.

Young Xehanort: You can drop the facade!

HERCULES WORLD

Cuts to Sora is in his KHII outfit (even after the new outfit was revealed) running and jumping through some sunlit mountain scenery and comes across water themed Heartless (using bubbles and rainclouds for attacks).

There are some olympic pillars, trees and statues which have the disney drawing style of the Hercules film, so was fair to assume at this stage that Sora was in the world of Hercules. Later there are Heartless (looking like flying monkeys and bulls) which seem to have ‘clothing’ resembling to the ‘Hercules’ style and then the Rock Titan appears making it more evident that this is the Hercules world. Meanwhile Sora is fighting with Keyblade, using fire spells, and at one point Sora, Donald and Goofy combine to perform a charging attack with Goofy’s shield at the front which turns fiery as they impact the Heartless.

In the 2013 D23 Expo trailer, the Rock Titan and general mountain surroundings were featured (so we already knew about this film’s incorporation), but now we have more insight as to what the Hercules world would look like (the resemblance to the disney style, the massive scale of the world/enemies and effects of the Unreal Engine 4! When the Rock Titan is attacking, Sora runs up an almost vertical mountain side while dodging rocks being thrown. It cuts to Sora at the Titan’s foot when a luminous blue light surrounds Sora as he jumps up the Rock Titan (almost like Flowmotion in Dream Drop Distance). It cuts to Sora hitting the Titan’s foot with the Keyblade making the foot ‘crack’ to show lava. Sora then lifts his Keyblade up to summon a luminous steam-train; the same one we seen in D23 Expo trailer again, but this time with more detail/colour on the train and more realistic gameplay (targeting & hitting through the Titan’s hand).

TANGLED WORLD

We then see Sora walk from a cave with Donald and Goofy in his new outfit which is mainly black and red (if it’s like a drive form or his permanent outfit we are not sure as the KHII outfit appeared as well). It then cuts to show Sora looking at Rapunzel’s tower confirming the fact that a world based on “Tangled” will be in KHIII! This is the first time a world based on a 3D animated film, has been incorporated in the Kingdom Hearts franchise and looks almost identical to film.

Flower-like Heartless then start to appear, one of which acts like a dandelion to create more small heartless. Sora uses a wind like spell and jumps into the air splitting his Keyblade in two and transforming it into guns (seen in the 2013 D23 Expo and HD 2.5 ReMIX launch event trailers) firing blue beams at the Heartless. It then transforms into a massive gun, shooting multiple shots in the one go and finishing with a large shot.

Sora then raises his Keyblade to perform the same movement like the steam-train summon; this looks like how Sora will usually do these special moves. This time he jumps in the air, falls through the ground like water and then a pirate ship (like in D23 Expo trailer) splashes out of the ground spinning to destroy the Heartless. It is also looks more vibrant and colourful, but only last a few seconds and disappears into shimmers of light.

TWILIGHT TOWN

We then cut to Sora, Donald and Goofy running through Twilight Town where the hole which leads to the Mansion is (like in the E3 2013 and 2013 D23 Expo trailer). Sora performs a Blizzard spell at Shadows, Soldiers and Large Body Heartless (from the first Kingdom Hearts game) then jumps in the air and spirals down (with blue light twirling around) onto the Heartless. Sora bounces off the wall and twirls round Heartless (like Flowmotion in Dream Drop Distance).

Sora once again raises his Keyblade and summons three luminous tee-cups for him, Donald and Goofy to spin in while hitting the Heartless. The three then combine and twirl around together to perform a final attack. Sora transforms his Keyblade into an orange and yellow weapon with lightning coming from it. It then twirls about and transforms into a white pegasus and chariot throwing out lightning bolts at the Heartless as it rides about in mid-air. Perhaps this is a summon acquired from Hercules’ world (like Genie from Agrabah).

CABLE TOWN LIBRARY/STUDY

We then cut back to Xehanort and Eraqus continuing their game of chess and their conversation. Meanwhile we see a fireplace with the Keyblade mounted on the wall above it when young Xehanort looks at it; this Keyblade is used by Master Xehanort in Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance, and in the secret ending of HD 2.5 ReMIX young Xehanort says to Braig, “But of all the Keyblades in existence, Master Xehanort’s is the most ancient.” We then see Xehanort and Eraqus’ faces as they talk and it ends by showing a white and black chess piece next to each other signifying the two sides; light and dark.

The final dialogue is below:

Young Xehanort: On that land shall darkness prevail and light expire. The future; it’s already been written!

Young Eraqus: Who’s to say I can’t change it? And maybe light will prevail. There is more to light that meets the eye. You might be surprised.

Young Xehanort: Oh I hope so.

The Kingdom Hearts III logo appears, followed by “Now in Development” to conclude the trailer! Hasimoto said afterwards, “So what do you think?” What do you think of the Unreal Engine 4 graphics? Now that Hercules, Twilight Town and Tangled are confirmed, what other worlds do you think will be in KHIII? What do you think of young Xehanort and young Eraqus? What did you like the best: flowmotion, enhanced magic, new outfit, disney attraction summons/other summons, or Keybalde transformations? What are your analysis’s of the trailer?

Write your comments below. To see my description of the European Launch Event of Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMIX and the Kingdom Hearts III footage from there, you can see it on my website or on KH13.com.